Mother’s Day Past & Present

by Peter Twitchell

I am happy to report I made it to another special day – “Mother’s Day”, just recently recognized in Eskimo Country. By the term “Eskimo Country” I’m thinking of all the Native People of Alaska. From north to south and west to east, all points in between.

I know that before colonization of Alaska we loved each other, being mindful of our Moms and elderly Grandma’s. We took care of each other providing food from the tundra, sea, and sky.

As parents we had a tradition of making sure we instructed our children the importance of giving grandparents of each tribe our first catch. To enjoy and also to ensure our children learned the importance of our Elders, future blessings of natural foods our Creator God would give to our children for their mindfulness and generosity to others who would not otherwise enjoy their Native Foods.

And so, the tradition lives on – sharing fish, wild game, ptarmigan, berries, and greens from our tundra.

We are now in the commercialized age of buying $5-15 dollar Mother’s Day cards for mom and grandma and spend up to $100 bucks for a bouquet of fresh flowers – plastic ones won’t do. And up until recently, a nice dinner at a fine restaurant.

So whether you helped your mom around the house or even cooked her one of her favorite dishes, or gave her a big hug and tell her just how much you appreciate her love and affection all these years and brought the grandkids for her to enjoy, continue to pray for her and thank the Good Lord and thank Him for blessing us with Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day.